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Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Job & Life Update

Well, it's been a while, so it's probably time for another episode of "What's Angie Going To Be When She Grows Up?"

Work has continued to be a huge stressor in my life, but since finding out about the baby I've been able to say, "Screw it" and blow off a lot of that stress. I had sent out a ton of resumes and not gotten much feedback. Because Illinois is almost as broke as the state of California, no one has any money to do much of anything, so no one is hiring, or they're cutting salaried positions down to hourly. If I was single or recently married I could do hourly, but these days we need my insurance. No insurance = big problem.

Telling The Boss that I was pregnant went over better than I expected. I was given an extension to sign my contract, and in that time frame I was hoping that either Graham would land a job that would allow me to go down to part-time or quit, or that I'd find another job. No dice, friends.

I chose to sign my contract after a lengthy discussion with Graham (in which I cried a lot) and a lot of praying. I really, really don't want to return to work there. I'd rather eat tar, I think. But, we really don't have any choice. We need my salary, especially with Junior on the way.

But, the hope/goal is for me to put in one more year at this school and then hopefully go down to part-time, because ideally I'll be starting grad school part-to-full time in the fall. We've put it off for me long enough, and in order for me to move forward professionally I NEED to get my Master's. Do be able to do what I want to do requires an advanced degree, and *ideally* with that degree I'd get a pay increase. If I worked for the city, definitely. If I worked in a school, likely but not guaranteed. If I stayed at my current job.....::pause for laughter because no one gets a pay increase::

On one hand, I'll get maternity leave thrown in there so that should make my working year much shorter. But, on the other hand, I'll be enormous for a chunk of that working year. Throw in some hormones, someone sitting on my bladder, and work-related stress, and WOOOO BOY! I'll probably start seeing maternity leave as a vacation and not a rest & recovery period.

I signed my contract yesterday and worked out a tentative leave schedule with my boss. If all goes according to plan I'll work up until the end. I'd really love to take some time off before Junior gets here, but with my luck and genetics playing a role in this little production it means baby will most likely be late. I'd rather have time off WITH baby than time home without.

And bonus! Christmas/winter break doesn't count as part of my leave, so I get an extra 2 weeks tacked on! And February is a short month, so if I took all my days I wouldn't be back at work until beginning of March. Squee!

After recent developments, I'm starting to believe that I'm being phased out at work. It's annoying, but I'm okay with it. If I'm not essential to the school and the work at hand, then why keep me on? And if I'm so bad at my job that they need to transition me out, why am I continuously offered a contract each spring? Makes no sense to me whatsoever.

(Aside: Signs Your Job Isn't Worth It: They start to phase out your position and you don't care.)

I'd love to go more in-depth about work, but unfortunately it's not "professional" and I'm hoping to finish this year with as much dignity left as possible, so I don't want to give anyone more ammo than necessary. And, separating ourselves now will be a lot easier--unless I somehow end up back there in a few years (but not likely unless there are some administrative changes). Working in a private school can get ugly when you start making choices about your own kids and their schooling.


So, that's that. NOT the outcome I was hoping for, but it's got a silver lining that comes in the form of maternity leave. And really, knowing deep down that this is the beginning of the end makes it that much easier.

2 comments:

  1. I'm sorry it's not ideal, but I'm glad it's seemed to somehow work out in a good way.

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  2. You and I have so much in common in the job-related field. Keep your chin up -- you still have a month and a half of summer left to kick back and enjoy yourself <3

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